Small miracles

Catherine has remained completely chicken pox free, despite nearly all her little friends having chicken pox in the past few week. I think only one of her friends remains without the dreaded pox, and that little friend was the one who came camping with us last week! I am continually amazed (although I shouldn't be really) by the power of prayer and the way that God has carried Catherine through her illness. There have been difficult times, but all the way through it is like God has cushioned us, buoying us up and giving us strength and comfort to get through the hard times.


We still live with the tension of knowing that she has low immunity but realise it could be so easy to put life on hold and not do anything. So we chose to go camping which she thoroughly enjoyed, and it was great to see Catherine leaping around enjoying life. We could wrap Catherine up in cotton wool and choose to do nothing, but we have chosen to live life to the full, living in trust that all will work out for the good.

Thankyou for praying for Catherine. I truly believe that it is your prayers that have helped our little girl.

Legoland and chicken pox

Today, we had a great trip to Legoland! Catherine and her friend had a fantastic time going on the rides and playing in the water activities. The next few days we are taking some time out with Catherine and some friends and will probably not have internet access, but I will update everyone when we get back.

Unfortunately, even more of her friends are coming down with chicken pox so please can you pray for protection for Catherine at this time. Miraculously she has managed to avoid it so far, but she still needs your prayers as nearly everyone she knows has caught the virus in the past few weeks. Thankyou

Catherine

Much better

Catherine is much better today and so she was able to go to the park for a friend's birthday. She still has a very low immune system, but the virus just seems to have disappeared. You wouldn't think she had been poorly. Praise God!

2 Corinthians 4:8

I believe that bravery awards for children going through chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment are a fantastic idea, although sometimes I think that an endurance award would be more appropriate! Catherine has been brave in her treatment so far but today I saw bravery on a greater scale.

When I told her that she had to go and have another two injections, she was obviously quite distressed and upset for a short while but composed herself so that we could get ready and make the journey to the hospital. We entered the treatment room and she was fine. A bit nervous but otherwise ok. When the nurse arrived and she saw the two needles she was very afraid.

It made matters worse when she had the first injection because it was very painful. She cried a great deal and it was clearly very difficult for her. I tried to comfort her as much as possible, but I could see she was having a rough time. The problem was that there were two injections, not just the one. For a split second, I wondered how on earth we would convince her to have the second injection considering the pain she had just felt. But slowly she turned her body round, and in floods of tears offered the other arm. That was it for me. I really had to focus on getting her through it otherwise I would have been in floods of tears with her. She stoicly sat through the ordeal again. I glanced across at Mark and he was also amazed at her courage.

During the walk home, she hugged me all the way with her face pressed tight against mine. We celebrated the end of the day with a chinese take-away. Catherine enjoyed a big bowl of rice and was allowed to watch some 'daddy programmes' (In our house we either have Catherine programmes - CBeebies - or Daddy programmes - anything other than CBeebies).

My daughter is as tough as they come.

Today, she is my hero.

ZIG needed

The blood test results show that Catherine has no chicken pox antibodies left in her blood which means that this afternoon she will be having two needles of ZIG injected - one in each arm! Our specialist nurse has asked, half-jokingly, if we could go after she finishes her shift, because she gave the last injections to Catherine last time and is concerned that Catherine will start to hate her!!!

ZIG is a blood product that contains high levels of chicken pox antibodies. ZIG causes chicken pox infection to be less severe. In some cases, ZIG may help prevent infection.

Otherwise, Catherine is steadily improving, and I don't think she has chicken pox but another virus due to her low neutrophils. So this is good news, but now we have to prevent it happening in a couple of weeks time with more ZIG and lots of prayer!

Thankyou for praying.

Lady in waiting

We came home from the hospital this afternoon and are now waiting to find out whether Catherine has any chickenpox antibodies and whether they can identify her viral infection. She doesn't have a temperature, so they were happy to let her come home and give her some oral antibiotics for now. She has also been given a different painkiller which is really effective and has made her feel much more comfortable. So we've had a good evening together, all three of us cuddling up on the sofa. Normally Catherine would be in bed for 7.30pm and we would be working on essays, so it has actually turned into an unexpected family time for us all. And because the painkiller is working, she is no longer upset and tearful and is enjoying the cuddle time. We even got to watch a programme on TV which was located a few miles down the road from our new home, which was quite exciting! So a silver lining in the middle of a cloud.

We are praying that Catherine will be feeling much better tomorrow.